New Kanye West song ‘Only One’ isn’t one you want, but one you’re getting

Kanye West kicked off 2015 with the release of a new song, “Only One. And if you thought the start to the Kanye West hype machine would bow with a balled, you'd be the only one.

But that's what you're getting, Yeezy fans. West collaborated with Paul McCartney for this sentimental and sometimes meandering little journey, and you can hear the former Beatle's influence poking out and laying it on thick throughout. West is singing and not rapping at the least here, which is definitely opposite the mode he was in for 2013's “Yeezus.”

While I am not particularly keen on West returning to the auto(tune) zone like he spent much of “808s & Heartbreak” in, he always has had a way with lyrics when it comes to his family and matters of the heart. One could write a book on how the Chicago-bred producer and rap star has spun his mother on the page (during her life and definitely after her death); here, the song is sung from mom Donda's perspective in heaven, as an ode to Ye's first daughter North.

Zombie Mom/Kanye West as medium may not be a homerun, but “Only One” is oddly endearing, in its seeming improvisations, the timing of the thing, the undercooked nature of its combination with Macca. After all, it's Kanye: he'd rather die than simply give fans what they expect.